Shelter Me From Darkness

Chapter 1

Piper

I should have known Edmund would have sent people after me. The bastard didn't like to lose at the best of times. That I had escaped his gilded cage would have infuriated him.

Especially as mage magic is far superior to the magic of witches. I rolled my eyes at the thought; aware it was Edmund's voice in the back of my mind. Taunting. He'd always been arrogant. Then again it was his arrogance that had allowed me to escape, so I couldn't roll my eyes too much at it.

Keeping my right side to the wall, I hurried towards the nearest ladies' toilets. Glancing over my shoulder to track two mages currently following me.

I'd never been more grateful for the innate ability all witches had, which allowed me to see magic in the world. Witch-sight. It did more than merely see magic, it allowed me to see through the woven illusion surrounding the mages, without it, I wouldn't have noticed them.

A tactic that allowed most magical folk and creatures to walk around the human world without the magically unaware noticing. Not that everyone could create a strong concealment illusion.

These two could. A good one. Most likely they were Shadow Mages, named for the type of work they did. Assassins, spies, bounty hunters.

The realisation of their profession didn't exactly help me. If anything, it made the doubt that I could make it out of here without them catching me a little louder. My window to escape was growing ever smaller.

An icy wave of power rippled through me. Carrying with it a voice as clear as day in my mind.

"Hurry!"

Hecate. The goddess I'd pledged myself to over a decade ago speaking to me for the first time in years. My legs went weak, the Hecate wheel that marked my right shoulder burned. Another reminder of the pledge I'd made. Over the last few years, I hadn't been a very good acolyte.

There was a shift in the air that told me I had her attention. It surprised me nobody else seemed to notice. Couldn't they feel the air change?

Swallowing the lump in the back of my throat, blood roared in my ears, accompanied by the echo of a thundering heartbeat. Ignoring the hair on the back of my neck standing to attention, and the charge of energy that prickled across my skin, thoughts raced across my mind.

Was it possible they've caught up to me already? Were there more ahead?

Stop it. Breathe.

I couldn't give into panic; it was a good way to get caught. Using every ounce of will I had, I pushed forward. Taking one step, then another. Panic inside of me screamed to run, but the voice of caution kept me walking. Bonus point to me.

I wasn't under a concealment illusion. Running would bring the attention of the Normies around me. I hadn't broken any laws yet in our world, but getting Normies involved in magical business was a sure way to do that. The Conclave came down hard on anyone who risked exposure. It was probably what was keeping the mages behind me from doing anything magical to capture me. Neither of us wanted to get the Conclave involved. Edmund would have made it clear they wouldn't get paid if they brought any unnecessary attention to him and his business dealings. They would wait until I was alone, isolated before making their move.

Slowing my breathing down, face schooled from emotion, I kept my pace steady.

Everything is fine, nothing to see here. Keep moving.

The Conclave kept peace among the Otherkin, the various supernatural races living on earth, like the human United Nations. Every member race signed the Covenant and agreed to uphold each law set down by the leading body. It ensured both our safety from an ever-growing human population and their safety from those supernaturals that saw them as nothing but food. Not to mention the never-ending clashes between each race that spilled out over into the human world.